'Hip Hop Nutcracker' puts a twist on a Christmas classic

By Jody Feinberg/The Patriot Ledger

Thursday

Dec 14, 2017 at 3:05 PMDec 14, 2017 at 4:21 PM

There’s the traditional “Nutcracker,” the “Urban Nutcracker” and now the “Hip-Hop Nutcracker.”

The latest version literally turns the classic ballet on its head, as 12 hip-hop dancers flip upside down, spin and seem to defy the laws of physics. Four years after its debut at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the show’s third national tour visits the Boch Center Shubert Theatre Dec. 21-23.

In “Hip Hop Nutcracker,” audiences still will hear Tchaikovsky’s music, but a DJ and an electric violinist supplement it with interludes of remixes and improvisation.

“It surprises people how well these two worlds go together,” said choreographer and director Jennifer Weber. “When they jam together it goes from classical to hip-hop seamlessly.”

What diverges significantly from the traditional Nutcracker is the story, as well as the energy.

“We translate the classical score into the language of hip-hop and give it a very different energy,” said Weber, artistic director of the female hip-hop group Decadancetheatre in Brooklyn. “It’s more dance heavy and explosive than a traditional Nutcracker, and people will hear sounds in the score they might not have noticed before because we’re pulling from different rhythms.”

To make the story more contemporary and relevant, “Hip Hop Nutcracker” is set on New Year’s Eve at a block party in 21st century New York City and in an urban club in the early days of hip-hop. Kurtis Blow, a hip-hop legend, acts as MC to introduce and close out the show.

“‘The Nutcracker’ is the iconic holiday show, and we wanted it to be more inclusive and wanted people to be able to relate to the characters,” Weber said. “There are still the mice and soldiers, toys, dancing snow flakes, and other favorites, but people will see them in a different way.”

Clara is Maria-Clara and the Nutcracker prince is a pushcart nut seller who rescues her when a gang with mouse ears attacks her. The vendor then takes her back in time to a party in a 1980s club, Land of the Sweets, where the hip-hop changes to the style of that period.

Earlier, Maria-Clara had been upset by her parents fighting at the block party, but in the Land of Sweets she sees them in happier times. When she returns to the present, she uses what she learned in the Land of Sweets to bring her parents closer.

“The story is about using dance and art to bring people together and remind them of why they love each other,” Weber said.

After its debut in Newark, the show toured the country the following year, and each year has expanded its tour because of sold-out performances.

“Our audiences are incredibly diverse, and to me that’s a sign of success because we bring people together,” Weber said.